The Missing Piece
by Namine09
Summary: Mello is caught in the reminiscing of old memories as he tries desperately to find the missing piece in his life.
1. Reminiscings

Another blank and boring day…not much happened here, but then again, it was an orphanage. Weren't these places supposed to be buzzing with people that were coming in and out, looking for the child that nature had denied them? The idea seemed like a puffed up idea created by greeting card companies just to sell their goods. When it came right down to it, orphanages weren't like that…not at all. Well, this one wasn't at least. He'd been here for years and had yet to see any of the children here leave with a mother or father. Well…he understood why: they weren't here for adoption; they were here because they had a job to do and a title to live up to: L.

It actually made him feel a greater confusion then he could even begin to explain. This figure, this…this voice on a screen and an Old English style letter was supposed to be what they were living up to? They hadn't even met him, so why did they blindly try to keep up with him or surpass him? So many years he'd spent here…he had friends, plenty of them, but still, none of it seemed like enough anymore. There was only one friend here that he even considered to keep after he was too old to stay here, and the gamer wasn't even around right now. As it stood, he himself was sitting in a chair in the cafeteria...the previous meal was already served and digested, leaving him alone in the huge room.

He liked to just sit here, to be still, to remember how things had once been so long ago. He sighed as he leaned forward and rested his chin in the palm of his hand; his arm was propped up on his elbow as he stared blankly at the identical tables that were dotting the space in front of him. It was so quiet here…so quiet…so perfect. As his eyes closed about halfway, a memory from years past began to flash in front of his eyes.


	2. Smiles and Chocolate Cake

"Happy sixth birthday Mello!"

He giggled as Matt shouted the words to him and he opened his arms and welcomed the five year old into them and jumped up and down with him like any child would. They both giggled together before Mello removed his arms, though Matt kept them wrapped around him, still just as excited as he'd been a moment before…almost like it was his own birthday. Mello smiled and spoke to him, laughter clear and resounding like the most beautiful of bells in his voice,

"All right all right that's enough, you want cake don't you?"

Matt's eyes lit up and he nodded quickly and ran to another table in the giant cafeteria to find himself a drinking cup. Mello laughed as he watched, and he moved over to the table and sat on his knees on the chair and dipped his finger into the soft chocolate frosting.

"Mello you were supposed to wait!"

He quickly moved his finger away and hid it behind his back, staining his freshly cleaned clothing. The tiny Matt stomped back to the table they had been sharing and drank his freshly poured milk as he did so. A voice came from the hall behind them and both boys directed their attention to it and stared blankly as they heard one of the women that worked here start to speak,

"White hair…is he albino?"

Next was a man's voice,

"No, it seems to just be a pigmentation defect, see, look at his eyes. Albinos have red irises."

"How old is he? He's so small…"

"He's four."

The voices faded away as they moved down the hall and around the corner, out of earshot from the two boys in the cafeteria. Other children were still eating their meals, but their mindless chatter was filtered from the small blonde's ears…there was a new child here. Who was he? He and Matt were the only ones at their table with the cake and he looked over at him and tilted his head,

"A new boy is here…let's go see who he is!"

Matt frowned,

"But what about cake?"

Mello laughed a little bit and hopped off of the chair and tussled his fingers through Matt's hair,

"Come one, I'll give you a ride there and then we can eat the whole cake!"

Matt smiled and nodded happily. Mello laughed with him and assumed the position; crouching down and letting the other boy crawl onto his back. He bounced him up and Matt's arms and legs locked around his neck and hips. Mello laughed and ran in a zigzag, weaving through the endless white tables of the cafeteria, making airplane jet noises as he did so. Matt squealed and laughed and spread his arms out to be the wings of the imaginary plane; the white tables around him were no longer tables but fluffy white clouds. Soon the two were out of the cafeteria, leaving their faux skyway behind them.

"All right…he should be in the question room by now; they took you there when you were new too, right Matty?"

Matt nodded and Mello was off again; ignoring the staring teachers and counselors that questioned the two boy's motives. Now that he thought about it, he could have just gone out of the door of the cafeteria that they had heard the voices come from…it would have helped them to avoid these looks, 

but he knew how much Matt loved the airplane rides, so he took the long way through the cafeteria instead…eh, it was just a few stares anyways. The question room wasn't too far from here and they would be allowed to go in; it would be encouraged for the new boy to meet some of the other children here, and this way they wouldn't have to go and find some kids for him to meet.

He stopped when he came to the large door and knocked on it quickly. Matt reached over him and knocked with both hands to help him. The door opened and the two of them smiled up at the man that had been heard through the hallway,

"Can we meet him? Is he in here yet?"

The man looked down at them questioningly, but he couldn't help but smile from their expressions. He nodded and opened the door wider to let them in. The room was very dark and there was a huge glass window looking into another room full of toys and games. Of course, if you were in the other room you couldn't see the people in this room…it was a two way window so it would just look like a mirror. That was the question room, where you were talked to by adults and other children…they observed you in the other room. Matt and Mello gasped in awe since they'd never been on this side of the glass. There were television screens everywhere and a person at each one of them…was it like this when he'd been brought here?

There was a door leading into the room and the man opened it for them and Mello walked through it, Matt secured on his back. They both squinted their eyes from the bright light of the room which only seemed so bright from comparison to the dark room they had just been in. The man started to speak as they ventured more into the room,

"Hey, there are two boys here that want to meet you."

Mello's eyes widened as he laid his eyes on the boy for the first time.


	3. First Encounter

It seemed so insignificant; he had no idea how important this person would be to him for the rest of his life. Now, as he stared at him, he couldn't help but wonder what he was like, what games he liked to play, his favorite food, if he knew what happened to his parents…why his hair was so white. He stepped closer to the boy and sat on his knees in front of him. Matt moved off of his back and sat the same way next to Mello and they both looked at the other boy. Had his new name been given to him yet? They weren't sure. They knew that the next few months would be spent trying to get him to forget his real name…why weren't they allowed to know their real names? They'd probably already tried with his new name, but would he respond to it? Mello looked back at the man by the door,

"What's his name?"

"Call him: Near."

The man smiled and walked out of the room to leave the boys alone to be observed. Matt was the first to speak of course,

"Hi Near!"

Near didn't say anything and looked away from the two of them. He stood up and walked to the toy box and rummaged through it to find something. The other two boys looked at each other and shrugged. Mello stood up and walked to the toy box with him and found a remote controlled car and the remote for it.

"Have you ever played with one of these before?"

Near stopped and looked over at him, his eyes wide and innocent, almost afraid of the boy's question…like if he answered it wrong he would get in trouble. His bottom lip started to tremble and Mello's eyes widened.

"Oh! No it's all right! They're fun, come on."

He took the boy by his hand and pulled him with him and slid the remote to Matt and turned the car on. Matt jumped up and down and turned on the remote; he loved this toy the most. The car zipped off and Matt squealed in excitement as it moved under the table in the corner and then made it encircle Mello and Near. Near's eyes widened and he wrapped his arms around Mello's arm and buried his face in his side…was he afraid? Mello didn't know and he patted his head,

"It's ok, look!"

The car stopped by Near's feet and he looked down at it, his grip on Mello's arm tightening. Mello smiled weakly,

"Matt, let him try."

Matt quickly ran over to the two of them and outstretched his arms,

"Here, try!"

Near cautiously removed his arms from Mello and took the controller in his hands. He pressed forward and the car went off. He laughed when the car moved and Mello and Matt couldn't help but smile when they heard him laugh for the first time. The car twisted and turned around the room and Matt chased after it, giggling the whole time. Mello smiled and moved on his hands and knees,

"Come on, get on my back!"

Near bit down on his bottom lip but got on the blonde boy's back like a horse and Mello scrambled off after the car. Near squealed in excitement and made the car move around in circles so that Mello would have to go in circles…looking back on it, it was strange how accurate this was for their future…Near…always one step ahead of Mello, knowing exactly where he'd go next as if controlling him himself.

A small trail of sweat formed on Mello's brow and he stopped,

"All right I'm tired."

He fell flat on his stomach, Near still on his back, and the three of them laughed. Matt came up and Near gave him the controller to play with. He moved from Mello's back and found a bright colored box. Mello looked over, still laying on his stomach, and tried to see what Near had gotten…a puzzle? His eyes widened: a five hundred piece puzzle?! The colorful pieces spilled out of the box and Near sat down in front of them and flipped all of the pieces over so that they were color side up and he started moving them together.

"Are you sure? Those are really hard."

Near didn't say anything, as if he hadn't heard him, and he effortlessly moved the pieces together and in two minutes already had the entire outline done. Mello stared in amazement...he was only four, how had he done it so quickly? He moved next to him and the pieces might have well have been ancient Egyptian…both were incomprehensible to Mello; he wasn't that great at jigsaw puzzles. His eyes widened when he realized that Near hadn't looked at the picture on the box once,

"Don't you want to look at the picture to help you?"

Near kept his eyes down, was he ignoring him again? He stayed where he was sitting and watched the small boy as he put the puzzle together; in fifteen minutes he was done. The minute he was done, the woman that they had heard from the hallway before, walked into the room. Matt stopped running with the car, and Mello looked up. Near just stared at the finished puzzle: it was a picture of a stack of empty bottles; the reflections on the glass and the shadows it created in the picture should have made the puzzle much more difficult to finish, yet he'd done it in fifteen minutes with ease. The woman spoke,

"Amazing…he finished it so fast. There are adults that take hours to do this."

She came over and scooped Near up into her arms and left Matt and Mello to wonder. Near looked over her shoulder and stared at the two boys he had just met; his eyes worried and frightened…why was he being taken away from them? Soon she was out the door and in the dark room, and then she was out of that room too…Near with her.

"Where are they taking him?"

Matt asked Mello this, but Mello didn't like to think about it…that kind of reaction wasn't normal. He looked down at the puzzle and saw the puzzle piece in the very center of it and reached down. He pulled it out of the puzzle and moved it safely into his pocket,

"…I don't know Matty…"


	4. Playtime

"Aaah! You both are too heavy, get off of me!"

Despite the two boys on his back, he was laughing just as much as they were. It had been a month or two since Near had arrived here, and he loved being around Mello and Matt. They were the only two boys that he played with, and they didn't mind when he liked to do his puzzles…but he was always taken away from them by the adults, so they weren't able to see him as much.

"No faster! Right Near?"

Near wasn't much for talking, but he giggled and agreed with Matt,

"Yeah, faster!"

Mello groaned in a much observed exaggeration. A smile was still on his face, he loved this as much as they did, and he charged through the big play room with the two of them still on his back, being their horse. It continued on like this for another ten minutes before the horse couldn't take anymore and collapsed. Matt and Near laughed and got off of his back. Matt ran to the other side of the room and Mello watched as Near ran after him, laughing and squealing. Mello rolled over on his back and laughed as he tried to catch his breath.

"Matt, come here."

Mello turned his head and saw one of the teachers at the door, she was smiling and Matt ran over to her. Mello arched an eyebrow, what did she want? She said something to him that Mello couldn't hear and Matt's eyes widened and a small smile was on his lips…what was going on? Before Mello could get up, the two of them were gone. Near seemed just as confused and walked over to Mello and laid down next to him and wrapped his small arms around Mello's waist and snuggled into him. He must have been tired; he always got tired after running around. Mello smiled and wrapped an arm around him, letting his other arm stay at his side. Near's small voice reached up to him,

"Where's Matty going?"

His eyes faltered for a moment,

"I'm not sure…I'm sure he's all right though."

Near closed his eyes tight and nuzzled closer, clutching onto Mello's clothes,

"Are you leaving too?"

Mello's eyes widened and he smiled,

"No I'm not leaving. Matt will be back soon, you'll see, and then he'll tell us what was happening."

Near still clutched to his clothes, but after a few minutes, his fingers relaxed. His breathing slowed down and his body felt heavier since it was limp now: he was asleep. Mello smiled and stayed as his pillow, despite the children buzzing around playing in the room. How was Near able to block out their voices so well to fall asleep like this? He couldn't be that tired…

An hour passed by and the door opened and Matt came running in and laid next to Mello, giggling. Mello had almost fallen asleep himself, but now he was wide awake. He was careful not to move too much so that Near wouldn't be disturbed,

"What did you go do?"

"They just wanted to watch me do a bunch of stuff! It was fun! We played games, and they let me pick whatever food I wanted, and told me that I'd get to go to big school with you next year!"

Mello didn't say anything…what were they doing? Were they more tests? He wasn't sure, but it made him a little uneasy…would he have to take tests too? The woman was soon at their sides and bent down, taking Near away from Mello. Near's fingers instinctively closed on Mello's shirt and pulled it up with him. He mumbled in his sleep and Mello glared up at her,

"Why do you always take him away?! He's sleeping, he doesn't want to go!"

She merely smiled,

"You don't need to worry about it."

Matt spoke now,

"But you never let him play anymore!"

She only smiled and walked out of the room with the sleeping boy in her arms. Mello sat up and looked at Matt, the other boy obviously irritated that he had been ignored by her. Mello smiled and tussled through his hair,

"We'll see him again, come on let's find another car."

Matt was still frowning but he nodded and went with him to the ever popular toy box that already had about five other children around it…but neither of the two boys were really thinking about the car…


	5. Goals and Results

Mello was running around the courtyard, trying his best to find the other children that were in their hiding places.

"None of you better be cheating!"

He heard a few giggles and he smiled and ran to the statue in the middle of the courtyard and saw a little girl stooped down. She squealed when she saw him and he chased after her back to the tree, but she tagged it and was safe. He heard someone behind him and he turned and saw Matt freeze in place: he'd tried to make a run for the tree and had been caught. Mello laughed and ran after him at full speed. Matt shouted,

"Now!"

Four kids that weren't playing hide and go seek, ran out and tackled Mello to the ground. Matt stuck his tongue out and skipped slowly to the tree and touched it and was safe. The other children emerged from their hiding places; taking advantage of the tackled hunter, and all of them made it to the tree and were safe.

"Gah I said no cheating!"

He rolled over and tickled one of the kids on him and he was able to get them all off of him. He smiled and stood up, sighing in faux irritation,

"Fine…I guess I'm It again."

They all giggled and went off to hide. He moved to the tree and closed his eyes and shouted the numbers,

"One…two…thr-"

"Mello."

He was cut off from counting when a man walked over to him. He looked up at him,

"We need you to come with us."

The other children stopped and looked, forgetting about their hiding places, and he looked back at them and then up to the man. His eyebrows furrowed together and he walked with him back into the huge building. Matt could tell something wasn't right, but he moved to the tree,

"All right you cheaters, I'm It now and I'm only giving you ten seconds!"

They all squealed and scrambled around. Matt frowned as he closed his eyes, but Mello was whispering his 'thank you' to him as he was led into the building…what was going on? They walked and walked until they were in a hallway that he didn't recognize and was led to a door he'd never seen. There was a giant letter on the door, an L. His eyes widened. Was this it?! Was he finally going to meet L?! He was all but shaking with excitement as the door opened; all of the children here knew about L and looked up to him…well, most of them did. They were all striving to impress him and they all knew that one day he might pick one of them to help him or…maybe even be him.

None of them had ever seen him or heard his real voice, so the idea of it was enough to send him into a spiral of exuberance! They all knew what an honor it would be to get to be with him for even a minute, and so far, Mello was the smartest and most creative child here…the one that would undoubtedly get to meet L! This must be it! His lips parted as he walked into the room and saw a big television with two chairs in front of it. One of the chairs already had someone in it, and he knew who it was immediately by the white color of his hair: Near. He hadn't seen him in over a month now, and he ran up to him,

"Near! We haven't seen you in forever! Where were you?!"

He was smiling happily, but Near stayed silent and stared at the television, only barely speaking back to him in a monotone voice,

"I've been busy."

Mello was taken aback…where was the little boy that he used to give horse rides to?

"Near?"

The man behind him cleared his throat and he looked up at him and was gestured to sit in the other chair. He did so, and the man left, leaving the two of them alone with only a giant television as their chaperone. The television flickered on and a giant L was displayed on it, soon accompanied by a scrambled voice. Mello felt his stomach lift in excitement: it was L himself, not in person, but he was talking to them, only them, no one else!

"Hello. The two of you are here because you are the best and the brightest of this facility. From this point on you will be the top two successors to take my place should something happen. Mello,"

Mello's eyes widened and he almost squeaked when the voice addressed him, just him. He smiled and nodded,

"Y-yes."

"All of your time having been spent here has not been wasted. Please understand that you can never be adopted. For your entire time here, you have been at the top of every class and course, full of emotion and drive, and never giving less than one hundred percent; you are nearly perfect to succeed me."

Mello thought he might cry from such words and smiled,

"Th-thank you…s-sir."

"Near. In the short time that you have been here, you have already expressed more possible intelligence than any other that has passed through these doors. At such a young age, the possibilities are endless. Like Mello, you are at the top of all of your courses, but you are in the same courses as he is and still two years younger. Over the last month you have been observed carefully and have shown your true colors. You too will not be allowed to be adopted."

Near only nodded. Mello's mouth hung open; how could he not thank him for such a compliment?! Why was he acting so strange? This wasn't right…L continued,

"You are both the best of the best and shall be my successors, from this moment on you will both be watched carefully, and someday I might have to pick one of you to take my place. Keep up the good work."

The television flickered off and they were left in silence. Both of them were his successors? This was great! Not only was he a successor, but he was the top successor with one of his friends! They were both the best of the best!

"Near isn't this great?! We're both his successors! L picked us, he picked us and no one else, isn't that terrific?!"

Near stayed quiet and stared forward,

"It's very fortunate."

Mello's eyes narrowed,

"That's all you have to say?"

Near said nothing and Mello got out of his chair and moved in front of the chair and looked at Near, at eye level with him since he was standing.

"What's wrong with you? You aren't like you used to be at all. Why won't you look at me or play with us anymore, you don't even seem happy to see me after so long!"

Near stared expressionlessly at him,

"I don't have time for playing anymore. It's unimportant and all that is important is pleasing L and living up to his standards."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing and anger surged through him,

"So you're cutting off now?! You stop playing and having fun so easily?! You can do stuff with us and still be smart you know!"

Near arched an eyebrow,

"No I can't. You have, and look what's happened to you. You could be as smart as I am if you hadn't distracted yourself…already I am at your level and two years younger than you are."

Mello's mouth fell open…was this four year old seriously saying all of this to him so easily?

"Don't try to say that you're better than me! I want to be the best, but I like my friends too, and I love you and Matt! I would never drop either of you or anyone else!"

Near kept his face the same,

"You can do things your way, and I'll do things mine."

This wasn't Near…this couldn't be him. Had he always thought this way? He remembered back to when he'd first seen him figuring out the jigsaw puzzle the first day he'd met him…he wouldn't talk to Mello at all when he tried to speak to him…he cut himself off when he was trying to solve something. Even when he was falling asleep he cut himself off completely. No…he wasn't going to lose his friend. There had to be something,

"Fine. Then I'll beat you…I won't let you be at the top anymore. I'll make sure that you're always under me…I'll do it! I'll show you that you can have friends and still be the best!"

He had to beat him…he had to be number one, from now on being second wasn't an option…he couldn't even be equaled with him like he was now…he had to be the best. He needed to show him that it was possible. He wanted his friend back, how could he tell Matt? Matt would probably cry…Now he had two goals: to be L…the man he idolized and looked up to, the man that was the reason he was here; and his second goal…to show Near that he was wrong, to show him that he could still be friends with all of them.


	6. The Missing Piece

Years had gone by, so many years. He and Near were basically enemies now from how much he needed to beat him. He didn't even know who was winning anymore. The cafeteria was so empty; it was strange to think that such a journey had started here, on his birthday. Matt was still gone, probably playing with his games somewhere, or maybe asleep. Where was Near…in his room with a puzzle, or papers strewn in front of him. Why did he even care? It'd been almost ten years and nothing had changed.

How long had he been here thinking about all of those memories? It was dark outside now and they were probably going to lock up the cafeteria soon. He breathed in slowly and stood up from the table and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jigsaw puzzle piece and stared down at it. It was old and worn, the piece he'd taken from the puzzle on that first day that he had met Near. He carried it with him everywhere to remind him of his second goal…that second goal that seemed to be wearing away just like the frail puzzle piece in his hand. He squeezed it tightly and his jaw locked as his vision began to get blurred by tears that he would never allow to fall. His hand moved back to his pocket and he tucked the puzzle piece back into it's safe place…as long as that goal was still in his head, he'd never give up on it…he'd find that missing piece; the piece that he needed to at least finish that part of the puzzle that was his life; was it to be L, or to get his old friend back? He wasn't sure…but he'd never cease to strive and find out.


End file.
